In recent years, digital communications have become an essential function in virtually every digital device, ranging from miniature hand-held digital devices (e.g. cameras, dual-mode cellular telephones, etc.) to networking equipment (e.g. controllers, routers, etc.). For instance, digital devices may be connected to a local area network (LAN) through Ethernet adapters for wired network communications, or wireless adapters such as those operating according to the well-known IEEE 802.11a/ac/b/g/n standards. Such connectivity enables information to be communicated with other digital devices directly or indirectly connected to the LAN.
In a centralized communication scheme, information commonly in the form of “packets” is forwarded from a digital device connected to the network to another digital device that controls functionality of the network, referred to as a “controller”. Packet communications may be point-to-point, in which ingress packets are terminated at the controller, or carried out in a packet switching environment, in which the ingress packets in a given communication are terminated at the controller or are transient. Transient packets are packets that are received by the controller and are targeted to be forwarded to another device.
Switching platforms may be outfitted with enhanced capabilities compared to other switching platforms, such as firewall capabilities. These capabilities may include deep packet inspection, tighter session control and policing, and application visibility at a granular level among other capabilities. These enhancements may require extra cost that is not always needed within the particular switching platform. This can result in a non-uniform configuration when multiple modules are present that increases administration overhead and other costs.